Asset Tracking: Monitor the location and condition of your assets in real-time

Asset Tracking is the umbrella term for the digital capture of location and condition of physical objects in real-time. Track & Trace answers the question "Where is my asset right now?" and focuses on movements along a process. Asset Management answers the question "What do I own, in what condition, and when is the next maintenance due?" and is the commercial-organizational perspective. SmartMakers connects these different levels in its solutions.

Lost tools, unused load carriers, manual inventory processes, and lack of overview of mobile assets cause costs in the six to seven-figure range every year. Asset Tracking makes shrinkage visible, reduces search times by up to 80 percent, and replaces Excel lists with a current, automated inventory picture. Typical use cases: tool tracking, load carrier management, vehicle location, and condition monitoring of temperature-sensitive goods.

Over 200 industrial customers use our Asset Tracking solutions, from machinery and plant engineering to special vehicle manufacturers and construction service providers. Tools, KLT, mesh boxes, vehicles, medical devices, and other assets are tracked. The decisive factor is not the industry, but the question: Does the asset move, does it have value, and does its disappearance cost money or time?

The right location technology depends on the environment, accuracy requirement, and asset value. Indoors in halls with a large number of small containers, we use Active RFID & BLE Tracking with one to three meters accuracy. For larger load carriers in indoor and outdoor areas, our RTLS Tracking. If you want to monitor your assets across multiple locations, our GPS Asset Tracking solution via cellular network is used. For sensitive shipments where the condition of the asset should be monitored, our Shipment Monitoring solution is used.

Integration into your existing IT system landscape is done via REST-API, OPC UA, and SAP-specific adapters, without the need for active maintenance of another system. Movement and condition data flow as events directly into ERP, MES, warehouse management, or maintenance systems.

Our Asset Tracking solutions work independently of clients and locations across multiple plants and external partners. Locations outside your own premises, such as extended workbenches, are connected via GPS Asset Tracking. The Trackers send autonomously via cellular network without local infrastructure at the partner. This way, you keep your assets in view continuously.

The ROI of Asset Tracking typically lies in an amortization between 12 and 18 months. Drivers are reduced shrinkage of tools and load carriers, less search time, lower replacement costs, and higher utilization of mobile assets. In projects with large load carrier pools, customers have realized savings of over 1.5 million euros per year.

Typically, six to eight weeks pass from the decision to the first productive application. During this time, Trackers are procured and configured, the platform is set up, integration into target systems is established, and a first use case is brought live. Larger roll-outs across multiple locations then run modularly without a new basic setup.

The effort for implementation during ongoing operations is low because no structural interventions or machine downtimes are necessary. Trackers are attached to the assets during ongoing operations, Gateways are placed in halls as needed, and the platform is set up parallel to existing systems. Employees are trained in the Track & Find App and the web interface in one to two hours. A pilot with 50 to 100 assets is productive within a few weeks.